(i) The Old Stone Age – Paleolithic Age (500,000 B.C. -10,000 B.C.)
During the old stone ages, (Paleolithic Age) human beings lived in the foothills of the
mountains preferably near a river. Rivers provided them with drinking water as well
as food in the form of animals that came there to quench their thirst. They could find
caves for shelter on the foothills. So, their basic needs of food, water and shelter
were satisfied easily at such spots. Do you know that early humans had to push out
wild animals, specially the giant bears, from the caves in order to make a home for
themselves? Just imagine how difficult and dangerous life the primitive people lived.
To cover and protect their bodies from heat and cold, these primitive humans wore
bark from the trees and the skin of animals, which they dried under the sun. You
must appreciate the role environment plays in sustaining the human beings even today.
There are some places in India like the Andaman and Nicobar Island where certain
tribals live like the early humans even today.
Early humans lived in caves and made paintings depicting hunting scenes on the walls
of these caves. Paintings of animal-chase, especially big animals like bison and
reindeer can still be seen in the Bhimbetka caves in Madhya Pradesh. It is quite
possible that this practice of drawing on the walls was some kind of a ritual that
ensured that they would be successful in their hunting expeditions. It is also possible
that it was a creative expression to make their surroundings beautiful by making an
artistic expression of their hunts.
Bhimbetka is an archaeological World Heritage site located in Raisen
District in Madhya Pradesh. The Bhimbetka shelters exhibit the earliest traces of
human life in India which is of prehistoric times. A number of analyses suggest
that at least some of these shelters were inhabited by man for in excess of 100,000
years. Some of the Stone Age rock paintings found among the Bhimbetka rock
shelters are approximately 30,000 years old.
ThePaleolithic humans also developed certain practices which we think must be their
religious beliefs. They worshipped their ancestors after their death and buried them
with tools and eatables for a comfortable journey to the next world. They were afraid
of natural phenomena like lightning and thunder. They could not understand facts like
the rising and setting of the sun. But they knew that when the sun rose in the east,
it gave heat during the day time, whereas the moon gave peace and coolness at
night. To them it was something supernatural, because they could not understand the
cause. So they worshipped the Sun, the Moon, Thunder and Lightning. Moreover,
they were wise enough not to destroy nature and its balance. They took from nature
only as much as they needed and preferred to live in harmony with it. Don’t you
think that the world would be a nice place to live in if people followed what the early
humans did? The Old Stone Age was followed by the Middle Stone Age or the
Mesolithic age. The Mesolithic age was regarded as the transitional age between the
Paleolithic age and the Neolithic age.
(ii) The Middle Stone Age – Mesolithic Age (10,000 B.C. – 8,000 B.C.)
Let us see how the humans during the Mesolithic age discovered the use of fire.
It is quite possible that when two pieces of flint stone were struck together they
produced a spark. This spark may have fallen on some dry leaves and caused a
fire. This could have frightened or surprised the early humans. The intelligent humans
learnt to use this discovery to their advantage. They found that fire frightened the
animals and so could provide them safety if kept burning near the caves. It also
provided light during the night. Even the food became softer and tastier when cooked
on fire. It also warmed up the cold caves by providing heat. Even today, people
warm themselves sitting near a fire on a cold winter night. This must have been really
a great event in the life of early humans. Can you imagine how the progress of early
humans from living on the treetops to the discovery of fire took place? It could not
have happened overnight. Obviously, it took several thousand years. No wonder that
fire became an object of wonder as well as worship.
Imagine that you are visiting a place where there is no electricity. It is a cold winter
night and you are scared. Recall what the early humans must have done to keep
themselves warm. Now write three different ways in which you could keep yourself
warm.
Just like fire the use of tools was another important discovery for the early humans.
The tools found in this period were called ‘Microliths’. They were sharper and more
effective. Bones of animals were also used to make tools and weapons like borers,
scrapers, arrows, hooks, arrowheads and hammers. They made hammers, choppers
(iii) The New Stone Age – Neolithic Age (8,000 B.C. – 4,000 B.C.)
In the beginning, human beings were mere hunters and food gatherers. It took them
hundreds of thousands of years before they could become food producers. This was
the beginning of the Neolithic Age. Humans could grow their own food and they no
longer depended on the uncertainty of hunting or searching and gathering more food.
How do you think this happened? It is quite possible like the discovery of fire this
could also have been an accident. May be some seeds fell on the ground and plants
came out. These plants soon became a regular supply of food. They started sowing
these seeds and harvesting them. Now, they had to look after the plants they had
sown. This was because there was a gap of at least six months between sowing and
harvesting the grains. This was the beginning of agriculture. It led to a settled life
for humans for now they had a regular source of abundant food. They also had a
better chance of survival as they no longer had to go hunting for food. Agriculture
brought many advantages and changes in the lives of the human beings. They built
huts for themselves which were probably protected by a wall. Their fields lay outside
the walls. Now they had a regular place to live which soon took the form of a village.
This village consisted of many families which provided protection to each oth